Bringing their big bats and starting pitching to Corpus Christi over the weekend, the Texas State Bobcats won three straight baseball games against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to start the Southland Conference season.

The Bobcats claimed wins of 9-6 Saturday and 10-2 Sunday after a 7-4 win Friday. Texas State now is 3-0 in the league and 6-2 overall, while Corpus fell to 0-3 and 1-7.

The big stars Saturday and Sunday were starting pitchers Kane Holbrooks and Brian Borski, who each threw eight strong innings. Holbrooks allowed nine hits and only one earned run, improving to 2-0. Borski allowed only five hits and one earned run, also improving to 2-0.

Through eight games this year, Texas State starters Holbrooks, Borski, Zach Tritz and Michael Russo are a combined 6-1 with a 1.80 ERA, averaging just less than seven innings per start.

However, the Texas State bullpen is carrying an 11.34 ERA in 16 2/3 innings.

Offensively, the Bobcats are pouncing on opponents early, outscoring their foes 26-2 in the first two innings. They’re doing it with a light persistent attack that has produced only two home runs and a .364 slugging percentage, but still scores 6.5 runs per game.

In the 9-6 win on Saturday, the Bobcats took a 6-0 lead through two innings and never looked back. Lance Loftin hit a two-run single in the first inning and Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run double in the second. The top three hitters in the order – Tyler Sibley, Laurn Randell and Paul Goldschmidt – all finished the game with two hits.

In the 10-2 win on Sunday, the top three hitters – this time Sibley, Bret Atwood and Goldschmidt – again each finished with two hits. Atwood led the route with three RBI.

The Bobcats took a 1-0 lead they would never lose in the first inning when Sibley singled,, took second on Atwood’s sacrifice, stole third and crossed on Goldschmidt’s single.

Texas State increased its lead to 4-0 in the second inning, scoring its three runs on a sacrifice fly, a ground out and a fielding error. Four more runs for Texas State in the fifth upped its lead to 8-0. The big blow that inning was Atwood’s two-run single.

The Bobcats will open their newly remodeled Bobcat Field Tuesday night before a sold out crowd against Texas (6 p.m.). The game will begin a nine-game homestand through March 18.